Free today?

Today, you are free! At least it's "Tax Freedom Day," which arrives in Washington state later than in 41 other states.

If all of our state's economic output, from January 1 until today, was directed to paying local, state, and federal taxes, it would take until today-April 25-to pay that bill. To put it another way, nearly a third of what we produce goes to government. And that's just in the form of taxes, not counting fees and debt.

Tax Freedom Day arrived in Oregon five days ago; in Idaho it was April 11. Washington can do better, if we wrench back control of government from public-sector unions. Those private special interests fight tooth and nail to grow government, imposing an ever-greater burden on everybody else.

Want proof? Tax Freedom Day for states that don't allow union monopolies would be on April 14, meaning the average tax burden in those states is significantly less than here. We can do better. As you help us expose monopoly unions and how they rig our political system, you are part of the solution.